The Kalaweit project is a pioneer project in the conservation and protection of the

gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast Indi ...

s of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Origin

Chanee Kalaweit

The founder of the project is Aurélien Brulé (better known as "Chanee Kalaweit"), a young Frenchman born in 1979 in

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

( Var), in southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Kalaweit means "

Gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast Indi ...

" in

Dayak Ngaju The Ngaju people (also Ngaju Dayak or Dayak Ngaju or Biaju) are an indigenous ethnic group of Borneo from the Dayak group. In a census from 2000, when they were first listed as a separate ethnic group, they made up 18.02% of the population of C ...

(language of the natives of Borneo), while "''Chanee''" also means gibbon, but in Thai. In the beginning, the project was launched under the name of "Etho-Passion" in 1997, changing its name to ''"Kalaweit Project"'' shortly thereafter. Chanee Kalaweit came to Indonesia in 1998, and the ''Kalaweit Project'' began operations in 1999, the year in which the first gibbon sanctuary was established following the signing of an initial agreement with the Indonesian government. In 2004, the association signed a national cooperation agreement with the Indonesian forestry department, permitting ''Kalaweit'' to rescue gibbons throughout Indonesia. ''"Kalaweit Project"'' has since become the most important gibbon rehabilitation program in the world. Despite focusing on the recovery of these primates, the project has also played an active role in the recovery of other species such as the Malayan

Sun bear The sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus'') is a bear species in the Family (biology), family Ursidae found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the only species in the genus ''Helarctos'' and the smallest bear species, standing nearly ...

(''Helarctos malayanus'') or the

Slender loris The slender lorises (''Loris'') are a genus of loris native to India and Sri Lanka. The genus comprises two species, the red slender loris found in Sri Lanka and the gray slender loris from Sri Lanka and India. Slender lorises spend most of the ...

Centers of operation

The association has two rehabilitation centers, one on

Kalimantan Kalimantan (; ) is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area, and consists of the provinces of Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. The non-Ind ...

and another on

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

(with more than 300 Gibbons and

Siamang The siamang (, ; ''Symphalangus syndactylus'') is an endangered arboreal, black-furred gibbon native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The largest of the gibbons, the siamang can be twice the size of other gibbons, reaching i ...

s).

Borneo

On the Indonesian portion of the island of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

there are three facilities: *

Palangka Raya Palangka Raya or Palangkaraya is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian provinces of Indonesia, province of Central Kalimantan. The city is situated between the Kahayan River, Kahayan and the Sabangau River, Sabangau rivers on the island ...

(Central Kalimantan): logistics center and place where Kalaweit FM Radio is issued. * Pararawen: this is the sanctuary where the animals are located (350 km north of Palangka Raya). * Hampapak: this is the place where the animals are placed in controlled freedom. It is situated on an island in Lake Hampapak.

Sumatra

The Sumatran center is located on Marak Island, a tiny uninhabited island of 1,000 hectares, where the gibbons can be prepared for release. It is 5 km off the coast of the island of Sumatra.

Radio Kalaweit

It is the flagship of project. It was created with the aim to sensitize the local population through music and the issuance of conservation messages in the intervals between songs. It is the title of a documentary by British chain

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

dealing with the project, documentary producers ''Chanee Kalaweit'' accompany his daily work.

The main threats to the gibbon

Given its friendly aspect, gibbons are captured as pets, especially when they are still young. Upon reaching sexual maturity, gibbons become violent, which is why they are imprisoned in cages until their death (which usually occurs early). However, the greatest danger represents the destruction of their

natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, biotic and abiotic component, abiotic things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts ...

(a problem shared with the

Orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

and the rest of the rich Indonesian

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

). The destruction of the forest that serves as home is motivated primarily by the action of the timber factories and placement of

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

plantations.

References

External links

Official site

Article
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217061300/http://ippl.org/2001-kalaweit-gibbons.php , date=2010-12-17 of the ''

International Primate Protection League The International Primate Protection League (IPPL) is a not-for-profit animal welfare organization founded in 1973 in Thailand by Shirley McGreal. IPPL's main focus is to promote the conservation and protection around the world of all non-huma ...

'' Gibbons Primate conservation East Kalimantan Palangka Raya Animal welfare organizations based in Indonesia